Review: I’d Rather be a Witch by Erin Hayes

After making a reckless choice that destroyed her life along with the life of her high school sweetheart, Jordyn fled her small town and became a professional mermaid. Being around water suppresses her earth-based magic, something she desperately needs.

Yet Jordyn can’t suppress who she really is — a witch.

When she learns that her mother is dying of cancer, she returns home. But it isn’t until people end up dead and everyone points fingers at her that she realizes her past is coming back to haunt her. Because her ex-boyfriend Zach has been waiting for her. And he hasn’t forgotten how she brought him back to life that night three years ago.

Jordyn will finally have to embrace being a witch to learn the truth. And it will change her life forever.

** I’d Rather be a Witch is a tie-in with How to be a Mermaid. It uses some of the same characters and can be read as a standalone or as a complement to it. **

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

I’d Rather be a Witch is just as good as the other books I read by this author. I’d Rather be a Witch follows main character Jordyn, who we already met in How to be a Mermaid, but it can easily be read as a standalone. The book starts when Jordyn gets a phone call and has to return home. Three years ago Jordyn made a mistake and the consequences of that still haunt her. In a sort of flashback we find out what happened and when she returns home we really feel the consequences of her mistake. There is a bit of suspense, a tiny bit of romance and an intriguing storyline.

I really felt for Jordyn due to one thing that happened years ago she ruined the lives of two families and as far as she knows there’s nothing she can do to make it right. She does want to do something and goes back to her roots and her witch powers to try and find out if there is something she can do. Jordyn goes through some hardship in this book, but I like how she handled the situation, she didn’t gave up and even thought she made mistakes before that didn’t stop her from trying to do the right things now. I thought she was a great main character and acted believable.

The story matter is quite dark and deals with magic and the consequences of spells and changing the natural order of things. I felt that some of the emotional scenes could’ve used a bit more emotional impact. And a few scenes felt like they had a bit more potential and got a bit rushed, while if they would’ve dragged out a bit more they could’ve had more of an impact on the reader. Even though it’s a short story it did feel like it told the story it wanted, it felt the right length, although I wouldn’t have minded a few extra pages or chapters. It was an interesting story and I easily finished the book in a two days.

Beside Jordyn we get to know the other characters less, but enough to get a feel for them. There’s enough to get an imagine of everyone and the author didn’t introduce too many characters, so it was easy to keep track of things. There is a bit of a romance, which felt a bit unnecessary to me and even a bit unbelievable at times. I thought there was more space for conflict. The love interest seemed a bit too forgiving to me and didn’t struggle with what I assumed he would struggle with. The romance is also a bit messy due to the past and it just felt a bit too soon that she moved on, but I also liked how the romance was only a sideplot and didn’t move too fast. It just didn’t fully work for me. I liked how later in the book Jordyn calls Tara from How to be a Mermaid in that book as it was a fun nod to that book.

The world building is interesting and while there isn’t lots of time to explain things, we still get a good feel of what being a witch means in this world. We learn there are different types of witches, white and black magic, how it’s part of Jordyn her family and how they have spell books to write down their spells, but don’t necessary need them to cast. It was interesting to learn about the background and how they always got shunned because of being witches. There is still some we don’t know, but I thought it was enough world building to follow the story and not too much to make it overwhelming or bog down the pace. There are some things left open, but that’s okay. I did think a certain twist towards the end was a bit unbelievable, I understand magic was the cause, but it seemed weird the effect disappeared when the magic did.

To summarize: I really enjoyed I’d Rather be a Witch, it’s a bit darker than the author her previous books, but just as good. I felt sorry for Jordyn and the mess she was in. There was a bit of suspense added and it was interesting to find out more about the past. I did think there were a few scenes that could’ve had a bit more emotional impact and some scenes towards the end that could’ve been a bit longer. I wasn’t 100% sure about the romance and thought it felt a bit off and there was a potential for conflict, but the love interest was more forgiving than that. The world building was done well, there wasn’t too much focus on it, but the author gave enough details to understand the story, but not too much to bog it down. All in all another great book by Erin Hayes!

Same here, the girl’s hair on the cover is stunning. And the main characetr actually has pink hair as well. It was darker than this author her previous books, but it was really well done. There’s not too much focus on the world building, but enough to follow the book an understand what’s going on, so that’s good. And the witch element was done well.Lola recently posted…Review: I’d Rather be a Witch by Erin Hayes

Oh this sounds like a dark read. I like that is has a bit of romance AND suspense and you have me curious about that horrific mistake she made. Great review, Lola! 🙂Sarah @ One Curvy Blogger recently posted…Horror Books on My TBR List

Her mistake is pretty horrific and we get to see the consequences of that mistake. Although I do understand why she did it, as she didn’t knew the consequences and did for the right reasons, but it turned out all wrong. It was pretty dark in a good way. The suspense and romance weren’t the focus, but wer enively woven into the story.Lola recently posted…Review: I’d Rather be a Witch by Erin Hayes

All the covers for this author her books are so pretty, although I think this is my favourite so far, that hair is so pretty. The mermaid part is more a tie in with the previous book and doens’t have the focus, but I did like seeing why Jordan was a professional mermaid and how that worked with her magic.

It can be read as a standalone, there is one phone call with a character from the previous book so it ties the two together, but you can read this one without having read the other book. Everything you need to know is explained. It really was a good book and it flowed so well. I can’t wait for the next book by this author! I hope you’ll enjoy it if you give it a try, I think it’s free in KU or only 0.99$ else 😉Lola recently posted…Review: I’d Rather be a Witch by Erin Hayes

I hope you’ll enjoy this one! I am looking forward to hear your thoughts about it. I tried one of this author ehr books earlier this year and I’ve keeping up with her new releases since then and I really enjoy her books so far.

I love the pink hair on the cover! It really catches your attention. The books are tied together with how you meet the main character of this book in the previous books, but can be read perfectly as standalones.

Yes, this does sound good. I enjoy stories where there is a consequence for using magic and a responsibility to it making it more like reality (as much as magic can be real). I definitely want to read this one.

I’m not usually one that gravitates toward witch characters, but there are a few I like. I enjoy Deborah Blake’s Baba Yaga series and Stacey Kennedy’s The Cat’s Meow. There are probably a few others, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.Sophia Rose recently posted…Riptide Anniversary

Same here I enjoy it when there’s a consequence for using magic and it makes it more realistic. I thought it was pretty well done in this book, the magic can do a lot, but it does come at a prize and not always works as expected.

I don’t read a lot of witch books/ characters either, they are not my prefered paranormal creature, but I have read a few good ones.

I was getting confused at first as I was thinking I’ve seen that book here before! But of course it was How to be a Mermaid that I was thinking about. The world building sounds interesting and I like the dark feel of it. It’s a pity that it didn’t have the emotional impact that you wanted but it still sounds like a good read.Trish @ Between My Lines recently posted…7 RANDOM ways to choose your next book

It felt there was potential for more emotional impact at a few scenes, like it was described she cried, but I didn’t fully feel it. Beside that it was a great book. The How to be a mermaid cover has a bit of the same feel and it’s set in the same world, so it’s nice they match. The world building was done well and the darker feel of the book really worked.Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: When do you like a book setting?

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